PHILADELPHIA – It was a historic victory, Ryne Sandberg suggested late Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank, just by virtue of the rule change that made the result possible.

The Phillies found themselves somewhat fortunate 4-2 winners over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the go-ahead run coming on a play that was once a routine out.

But when Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero impeded Ryan Howard's path to the plate prior to tagging him in the sixth inning, an out subsequently erased by a replay became the decisive run as the Phillies won their first home series in their last six.

"This year that's a run," Sandberg, the Phillies' manager, said. "In the last 100 years, it's not a run."

The Phillies, who took two of three from Arizona, now hit the road for three games in New York against the Mets starting Monday night followed by four games in Washington against the Nationals.

Howard figured prominently Sunday, as his two-run first-inning homer off Diamondbacks left-handed starter Vidal Nuno provided an initial 2-0 edge in front of an announced gathering of 31,154.

But it was the sixth-inning play at the plate, and continued hullaballoo over Major League Baseball's new rules to protect catchers, that ended up making the difference.

Howard was on first base after a two-out walk when Marlon Byrd lofted a fly ball to shallow right field that second baseman Didi Gregorius dropped. Howard, who slowed slightly at third-base coach Pete Mackanin's direction before the drop made it "go-go-go," he said, headed for home.

But the throw to Montero arrived well before Howard. Montero received the baseball directly in the path of Howard, who leaped awkwardly around him while being tagged out.

The Phillies asked for a review, saying Montero was in violation of MLB's new anti-collision rules, and the replay supported their contention. Despite being thrown out easily, Howard was ruled safe because of the catcher's illegal blocking of the plate and the Phillies inched ahead 3-2.

"That's a big debate we've been talking about all year, that one rule," Sandberg said. "All the other replays seem to be pretty cut and dried and working smoothly. The play at home plate, there is a lot of judgment there and a little bit of confusion. Even three months into the season, the catcher did not know he couldn't stand there the whole time. Ultimately, Howard didn't know his responsibilities once he got to home plate.''

A year ago, Howard said, he would have simply bowled into the catcher, trying to jar the baseball loose. This time he tried to avoid him, though it left no way for him to touch home plate.

"We've had two or three cases where we've had it go two completely different ways, both against us," Howard said. "So it was good to see that it was something that went in our direction. It was clear there was no path for me to try to go anywhere, to try to make a move."

That was the catcher's fault and made Montero the guilty party.

"I understand why they put it in play but I definitely think it's going to take a while for guys to kind of get used to," Howard said. "I think Montero, he's just used to being in that position. Some guys are going to have to learn how to make an adjustment and it's tough for all of us right now. If they keep putting it in play, guys are eventually going to have to make those adjustments."

An inning later, another fly ball that Arizona failed to catch and a subsequent play at the plate allowed the Phillies to go up 4-2.

Left-fielder David Peralta closed his glove too soon and the ball bounced off the leather as he ran toward the fence trying to snare Ben Revere's blast. Wil Nieves, on first after a one-out single, hustled home from first and appeared to be a likely out. But Montero, this time positioned out of the baserunner's beeline, dropped the ball.

Peralta was initially given an error on the play before a scoring change resulted in an RBI double for Revere. After the game, the scoring was amended again, giving Montero an error and erasing Revere's RBI.

The left-handed-hitting Howard, recent recipient of a three-game benching, scooped a low pitch on the outside edge of the plate and deposited it into the left-center field seats to give the Phillies a 2-0 first-inning edge.

Chase Utley, who had walked with two outs, trotted home in front of him. It was Howard's 16th homer this year and sixth against a lefty.

Nuno (0-2), who was making his third start for Arizona since arriving in a July 6 trade from the Yankees, allowed just three hits over 62/3 innings.

Phillies starter Roberto Hernandez (5-8) had one of his most productive outings this year, limiting Arizona to two runs on four hits over seven innings. He had no walks while throwing 49 of his 75 pitches for strikes.

"I felt good," he said. "It's important when I throw a first-pitch strike."

Rookie Ken Giles then lowered his ERA to 0.98 with a scoreless eighth inning. Jonathan Papelbon, probably the Phillie most likely to be traded before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, then pitched the ninth. He allowed two singles before the Phillies won on a double-play groundout for Papelbon's 25th save in what may be his last appearance here as a Phillie.

Arizona had pulled within 2-1 in the second inning on Nick Ahmed's two-out RBI double.

Hernandez then retired 10 straight Diamondbacks before Ender Inciarte opened the sixth with a double down the first-base line. He hustled to second as Peralta was being thrown out at first on a smash back to Hernandez, then scored on Wilmington-born Paul Goldschmidt's sacrifice fly to deep right.